You lost me. This appears to be a Tegra 4-powered handheld gaming system, whereas HydraVision is a desktop/screen management software mostly providing multi-monitor and virtual-screen management. I might be missing something, but I'm not seeing the connection. It would be like Apple releasing the newest iGizmo and Microsoft responding by taking up yoga.

HotWingConspiracy:Is there even a market for this anymore? Most people in to portable gaming are satisfied with playing a puzzle game for 15 minutes at a time.

You have a good point (albeit FarkSnark), I have both a 3DS and Vita but I'm a huge outlier in the industry now. Nintendo is content to make a system for diehards, newbies, and kids and its successful (best Mario Kart, hands down). And Playstation is going after the 'Gamers who are now respectable members of society and can afford it' demographic. The Vita is great, I've beat FFVII and VIII on it and currently going through IX on it, the actual games made for it are pretty good (Sucker for Hot Shots), but it is treading water. I saw something like the 3DS outsold the Vita 3x this year in Japan, which is turrible.

So after all the mumbling, what about a new portable that is going to have access to a store that most non-iPhone smartphones have access to. So you're going to pay for a glorified iPod Touch? Don't get me wrong, I think the device looks spiffy and I like the idea of them going after it....but yeah, 500$ Angry Birds Machine?

/CSB? Maybe?//I like to hear the sound of my own typing///S/l/a/s/h/i/e/s/

HotWingConspiracy:Is there even a market for this anymore? Most people in to portable gaming are satisfied with playing a puzzle game for 15 minutes at a time.

Yeah, the sensible thing would be to make a gaming tablet that you can plug a controller into, so that you don't need to buy two pieces of hardware. Maybe they'll sell them at a loss to make it more appealing. The other possibility being that they're putting in hardware that wouldn't really fit in a normal tablet. Either way, it doesn't look very portable and I'll probably never buy something like that. I'm still more than happy to spend $300 on a Geforce.

Mog32Kupo:HotWingConspiracy: Is there even a market for this anymore? Most people in to portable gaming are satisfied with playing a puzzle game for 15 minutes at a time.

You have a good point (albeit FarkSnark), I have both a 3DS and Vita but I'm a huge outlier in the industry now. Nintendo is content to make a system for diehards, newbies, and kids and its successful (best Mario Kart, hands down). And Playstation is going after the 'Gamers who are now respectable members of society and can afford it' demographic. The Vita is great, I've beat FFVII and VIII on it and currently going through IX on it, the actual games made for it are pretty good (Sucker for Hot Shots), but it is treading water. I saw something like the 3DS outsold the Vita 3x this year in Japan, which is turrible.

So after all the mumbling, what about a new portable that is going to have access to a store that most non-iPhone smartphones have access to. So you're going to pay for a glorified iPod Touch? Don't get me wrong, I think the device looks spiffy and I like the idea of them going after it....but yeah, 500$ Angry Birds Machine?

/CSB? Maybe?//I like to hear the sound of my own typing///S/l/a/s/h/i/e/s/

Hot shots Golf is digital crack. Far more fun then any game about golfing should be. It's perfectly sized, with a 9 round hole only about about 15 minutes or less, looks great, and has some nice challenge. #1 most played vita game for me, with Gravity and Rayman close behind.

stuhayes2010:With Sony's handheld dragging way behind the DS, why would you waste money getting into this market?Droids and iPhones can run pretty killer graphics and games now, why would you need this?

The lack of physical controls really hurts serious attempts at android or touchscreen only gaming. Many games that are more complex then yoru average flash game would be much better if you had a proper d-pad and buttons.

Hence the rise in several blue-tooth android controllers, The ouya, and some standalone android game systems.

Now, this is very much like a Vita, in that it's Tablet tech wrapped up in a handheld, but Nvidia is going to have an even harder time finding developers to make Shield exclusive games then sony's having for the vita, which has had a hell of a time getting developers interested due to it's lower by far then expected sales.

I like the idea of Tegra 4 powered handhelds, but i'm not sure how they will turn it into a profitable reality. I'd much rather have a Tegra 4 powered Nexus device.

If samsung can be sued by Apple for making something that looks too influenced and win, then microsoft better sue the shiat out of this, because that design looks exactly like what the xbox portable should look like. Almost identical controller, glossy black, with an "X" design on the surface...god damned if Microsoft's lawyers aren't drooling today.

Tegra 3 was in a lot of popular tech last year. Tegra 4 seems to be even stronger. I can't wait to see if it shows up in say, a Nexus 7 2.0 or another Nexus 10 device. Granted, I don't think we'll see ether this quarter, baring a surprise announcement.

larrimo:"Coming hot on the heels of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which starts on Wednesday came a big announcement from NVIDIA revealing its Project Shield gaming device."

[4.bp.blogspot.com image 850x564]

Actually, CES starts tomorrow, but the general trend over the years is for vendors to start unveiling stuff ahead of CES to try to grab more of the early hype, so they've started demonstrating their stuff earlier and earlier until CES sorta-kinda unofficially begins on the Thursday/Friday prior.

likefunbutnot:HotWingConspiracy: Is there even a market for this anymore? Most people in to portable gaming are satisfied with playing a puzzle game for 15 minutes at a time.

People still buy graphing calculators, so yeah, somewhere there's probably someone fantasizing about having a small Android tablet with a D-pad on it.

The only reason people buy graphing calculators is because the testing protocols only allow for a whitelist of calculating devices. Consequently Texas Instruments exploits this by selling hardware with probably a 1000% markup. It is highway robbery, but when you're student's education is on the line, 150$ is just under the threshold of telling them to FOAD.

/hates overcosted graphing calculators//if we cared, we could probably get one in every single enrolled child's hands for 20$ a pop.

Esc7:likefunbutnot: HotWingConspiracy: Is there even a market for this anymore? Most people in to portable gaming are satisfied with playing a puzzle game for 15 minutes at a time.

People still buy graphing calculators, so yeah, somewhere there's probably someone fantasizing about having a small Android tablet with a D-pad on it.

The only reason people buy graphing calculators is because the testing protocols only allow for a whitelist of calculating devices. Consequently Texas Instruments exploits this by selling hardware with probably a 1000% markup. It is highway robbery, but when you're student's education is on the line, 150$ is just under the threshold of telling them to FOAD.

/hates overcosted graphing calculators//if we cared, we could probably get one in every single enrolled child's hands for 20$ a pop.

I love my TI-89 since I got it early in college. Definitely one of the most useful devices I've ever owned. However, I still can't believe how the price has hardly changed on them in over a decade.

So...its kind of like the Xperia Play, but it can't make calls. Well, that and it gets the latest generation of hardware. But still, I don't see it being a game changer. I wish more phones would come with integrated gaming controls.

RexTalionis:larrimo: "Coming hot on the heels of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which starts on Wednesday came a big announcement from NVIDIA revealing its Project Shield gaming device."

[4.bp.blogspot.com image 850x564]

Actually, CES starts tomorrow, but the general trend over the years is for vendors to start unveiling stuff ahead of CES to try to grab more of the early hype, so they've started demonstrating their stuff earlier and earlier until CES sorta-kinda unofficially begins on the Thursday/Friday prior.

It's similar to E3 where now all the big announcements happen in the pre-show keynotes, instead of during the show proper.

Mog32Kupo:So after all the mumbling, what about a new portable that is going to have access to a store that most non-iPhone smartphones have access to. So you're going to pay for a glorified iPod Touch? Don't get me wrong, I think the device looks spiffy and I like the idea of them going after it....but yeah, 500$ Angry Birds Machine?

You can tell who doesn't have an actual smartphone when they say stuff like "$500 Angry Birds Machine". There's already some really awesome games out there that really take advantage of the power of the platform (for example, Dead Trigger and Wild Blood). With companies like PowerA and Nvidia actually getting serious about gaming on the platform, along with the incredible demand expressed for the Ouya, I expect there to be a lot more very soon.

Mog32Kupo:You have a good point (albeit FarkSnark), I have both a 3DS and Vita but I'm a huge outlier in the industry now. Nintendo is content to make a system for diehards, newbies, and kids and its successful (best Mario Kart, hands down). And Playstation is going after the 'Gamers who are now respectable members of society and can afford it' demographic. The Vita is great, I've beat FFVII and VIII on it and currently going through IX on it, the actual games made for it are pretty good (Sucker for Hot Shots), but it is treading water. I saw something like the 3DS outsold the Vita 3x this year in Japan, which is turrible.

Despite anyone's insistence elsewise, the portable video game market has always been the domain of the casual video game player, because portable devices have always been held back by their limited hardware and input schemes. There have been some excellent portable game series (Advance Wars), but those don't have wide appeal to the audiences which buy portable game devices. So basically, it becomes a market for those who value the advantage of portability. Unfortunately, that consumer now "needs" a smartphone, and since quality doesn't mean a damn thing to them, they're going to choose the "necessary phone and free-to-one-dollar games" over the "250-dollar gaming device with 30-dollar games". So the Vita is screwed in spite of being a fairly awesome piece of hardware, and everyone will have to see whether Nintendo's brand name holds up their portable platform.

NeoCortex42:Esc7: likefunbutnot: HotWingConspiracy: Is there even a market for this anymore? Most people in to portable gaming are satisfied with playing a puzzle game for 15 minutes at a time.

People still buy graphing calculators, so yeah, somewhere there's probably someone fantasizing about having a small Android tablet with a D-pad on it.

The only reason people buy graphing calculators is because the testing protocols only allow for a whitelist of calculating devices. Consequently Texas Instruments exploits this by selling hardware with probably a 1000% markup. It is highway robbery, but when you're student's education is on the line, 150$ is just under the threshold of telling them to FOAD.

/hates overcosted graphing calculators//if we cared, we could probably get one in every single enrolled child's hands for 20$ a pop.

I love my TI-89 since I got it early in college. Definitely one of the most useful devices I've ever owned. However, I still can't believe how the price has hardly changed on them in over a decade.

Obligatory:

/I made it through college calculus using a TI-82 I picked up off of Half.com for about $30//even then, I thought the retail prices on TI's calculators were sheer ludicrousness///and that was 10 years ago

Antimatter:Omegamerc: if this is anything like tegra 3 it's going to be a bomb

Tegra 3 was in a lot of popular tech last year. Tegra 4 seems to be even stronger. I can't wait to see if it shows up in say, a Nexus 7 2.0 or another Nexus 10 device. Granted, I don't think we'll see ether this quarter, baring a surprise announcement.

Tegra 3 was poorly implemented and it didnt garner too much support from devs. It kind of reminded me of PhysX implementation vs a better architecture and performance/speed for the gpu/cpu. It also handled battery life really poorly since the cores couldn't be throttled independently afaik.

Omegamerc:Antimatter: Omegamerc: if this is anything like tegra 3 it's going to be a bomb

Tegra 3 was in a lot of popular tech last year. Tegra 4 seems to be even stronger. I can't wait to see if it shows up in say, a Nexus 7 2.0 or another Nexus 10 device. Granted, I don't think we'll see ether this quarter, baring a surprise announcement.

Tegra 3 was poorly implemented and it didnt garner too much support from devs. It kind of reminded me of PhysX implementation vs a better architecture and performance/speed for the gpu/cpu. It also handled battery life really poorly since the cores couldn't be throttled independently afaik.

PhysX as a separate card wasn't too useful, but when Nvidia bought them and built their tech into the geforce line, stuff got interesting.

Any word on the battery life thing for Tegra 4 yet? Interested to see if its any better, after what you said about T3's problems.

Antimatter:Omegamerc: Antimatter: Omegamerc: if this is anything like tegra 3 it's going to be a bomb

Tegra 3 was in a lot of popular tech last year. Tegra 4 seems to be even stronger. I can't wait to see if it shows up in say, a Nexus 7 2.0 or another Nexus 10 device. Granted, I don't think we'll see ether this quarter, baring a surprise announcement.

Tegra 3 was poorly implemented and it didnt garner too much support from devs. It kind of reminded me of PhysX implementation vs a better architecture and performance/speed for the gpu/cpu. It also handled battery life really poorly since the cores couldn't be throttled independently afaik.

PhysX as a separate card wasn't too useful, but when Nvidia bought them and built their tech into the geforce line, stuff got interesting.

Any word on the battery life thing for Tegra 4 yet? Interested to see if its any better, after what you said about T3's problems.

What I meant about physx and tegra 3 is that if you see the "tegra 3 optimized" a lot of times the difference will be particle effects a la phsyX. I still haven't seen anything useful that sez "zOMG buy nvidia to use physx system its a must have" Its been mostly "gee they tout around phsyx like its a big deal but you will never notice a difference without it.

T4 has max clock at 1.9ghz / ddr3 support / a higher density die and possibly 4g LTE built in(?)

If so it just means it will run faster and consume less power, a lot less power if they are bringing LTE on board vs a side module.

Games are only as good as your input device allows for. Mouse and Keyboard is by far the best input device (except for Sim games where you want a joystick/steering wheel), therefor, whatever platform you come out with unless it supports that, it is not as good as a PC.

the money is in the banana stand:Games are only as good as your input device allows for. Mouse and Keyboard is by far the best input device (except for Sim games where you want a joystick/steering wheel), therefor, whatever platform you come out with unless it supports that, it is not as good as a PC.

/flame on

There are games other than first'person shooters. If I'm playing a platformer, I want a gamepad. If I'm playing a fighting game, I need my arcade stick.

the money is in the banana stand:Games are only as good as your input device allows for. Mouse and Keyboard is by far the best input device (except for Sim games where you want a joystick/steering wheel), therefor, whatever platform you come out with unless it supports that, it is not as good as a PC.

/flame on

Controllers are good for platformers, driving, fighting, beat em up, JRPG, arcade shooter/bullet hell, and other genres where ether facebuttons or analogs are useful. also good for certain third person games.

KB/M is better for games like RTS, FPS, Wrpg, mmo, certain third person games, and other games were rapid selections/manipulation or hotkeys are handy.

NeoCortex42:There are games other than first'person shooters. If I'm playing a platformer, I want a gamepad. If I'm playing a fighting game, I need my arcade stick.

and If I'm playing Kinectimals or Just Dance I need nothing, no controller, no shoes, no clothes. I can bask in my naked self sweating, looking down at my Tiger pet knowing that if I shake my hips...he'll think I'm waving.

Antimatter:the money is in the banana stand: Games are only as good as your input device allows for. Mouse and Keyboard is by far the best input device (except for Sim games where you want a joystick/steering wheel), therefor, whatever platform you come out with unless it supports that, it is not as good as a PC.

/flame on

Controllers are good for platformers, driving, fighting, beat em up, JRPG, arcade shooter/bullet hell, and other genres where ether facebuttons or analogs are useful. also good for certain third person games.

KB/M is better for games like RTS, FPS, Wrpg, mmo, certain third person games, and other games were rapid selections/manipulation or hotkeys are handy.

I'd take an ARM powered Windows RT device that has price parity with a Fire HD rather than an ipad.

That'd be nice too; it'd definitely fill my girlfriend's needs. But I just want more value for $500. I'll bring the mouse and the keyboard for my old Win32 apps. That'd kick the iPad's ass and provide a major advantage over many upper-level Android tablets.

All of the pieces are here for that kind of thing but only Acer seems to get it with the Iconia W510.